Shopping List

Meetup: For those of you attending the Aberfoyle Spring Show this Saturday, we can meet up at the food barn (near the big patio area) at 11:30am. Another tip: if you're coming from Toronto, take Exit 295 off of the 401. Exit 299 has much more traffic and you'll have to sit in a long line of cars to get into the show!

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We're off to the antique fair this weekend and I'm putting a list together. I like to have an idea of specific things I'm looking for...otherwise, I just get so intrigued with everything that I don't end up buying anything! These shows can be overwhelming too so I try and budget our time before our feet (or Chloe's patience!) wears out.

A few things on my shopping list...

Source: desiretoinspire.net via Rambling on Pinterest

Source: emmaclements.com via Lydia on Pinterest

I would love to find some large trophies. The more tarnished the better. I've seen quite a few around in antique stores in the city; I'm just not prepared to fork over $300 for one yet.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Kara on Pinterest

The area over the sofa in our living room is still bare. I'm thinking I need something interesting there. Maybe something an old mirror with a great shape. Then I waffle and think I need something round and more clean-lined and graphic. Agh. I'm so indecisive these days.

via {scissor variations}

I'd love to have a small collection of things on display... exactly what things, I'm not sure of! Antique fairs are a great place to quickly amass a collection. Old skeleton keys, buttons, printers blocks - its fairly easy to find multiples of old things.

Source: tumblr.com via Rhian on Pinterest

I'd really like to have more original art in the house. Small vintage paintings are just what I'm looking for. The fact these pieces aren't perfect, how they're a bit folksy and look like they could have been painted by your aunt, intrigues me.

Do you have a list when you go out thrifting or antiquing? Or are you more apt to buy anything that catches your eye?

Meet Me At The Fair!

Garage sales, flea markets, antique fairs - 'tis the season! We took our first little road trip of the year and headed out to the Southworks Antique Mall on the weekend. I didn't find anything for myself but I did pick up 4 sets of teacups and saucers for my sister as a fun Mother's Day gift... after having two boys, she finally had a little girl last September and I know they'll love having tea parties together.

Two of my favourite antique shows are coming up in the next few weeks and I'd love to meet up with any of you also attending! First up is the Aberfoyle Antique Market Spring sale on Saturday, May 7th. Less than an hour's drive from Toronto, the Aberfoyle market is open every Sunday from May to October. This special Saturday sale features more sellers. I like Aberfoyle for accents, art, and smaller pieces.

Then on Saturday, May 28th is the big one... the Christie Antiques Show. This show is my favourite and it only happens twice a year. If you're a fan of Sarah Richardson, then you must must must go to this show! This is where Sarah found the fab yellow quilt and four-poster bed for the master bedroom in Sarah's House 3...

and the pine cupboard you see beneath the mirror. That's Sarah and her family in this photo from Canadian House & Home.

The Christie show is a great source for just about anything... furniture, rugs, lighting, accessories... you'll definitely find it at this show!

If any of you readers are planning on attending either of these shows, let me know! Maybe we can have a meetup there and compare all our great finds!

Old School Finds

I thought I'd do another little vignette on my sideboard and show you our finds from Antique Avenue...

I have been on the lookout for an old school map for the longest time. They're hard to come by, and the ones I have seen have been in the $150-250 range. As soon as we got to the store, we asked if they had one. And they did! And it was a map of Canada! And... it was only $30!!! YES. Best vintage score to date :) It says copyright 1961. Aside from the staining down one edge, its in great condition. Oh, and it has a more detailed map on the back! It'll look great in the play room.

I also got the little honey tin ($8). I love the colours on it. Eventually I want to put it in the craft area and fill it with Chloe's paintbrushes. It looks good paired with the tin toy carousel I picked up in New York and a tin that once contained Dutch stroopwafels (sooooo yummy). I picked the lamp up at HomeSense for Chloe's big girl room. I want to eat the pretty milk glass base right up.

This little quartet came home with us too ($10). Unfortunately, Papa Pig rolled out of the bag and they were forgotten in the car on a very cold night. The temperature change was too much for them to take because their wood has cracked and the paint is starting to chip off. Only baby pig escaped unharmed. Sad but I might have to toss this little swine family out.

Lots of good finds at that store. I just hope prices don't rise now that I've blogged about them, lol!

Shop Spotlight: Antique Avenue

I've been going through antiquing withdrawal lately. In the summertime, most weekends we'll take a little road trip, leaving the big city behind to explore small towns rife with old treasures. So when my fellow vintage-loving friend Tara at The Cinnamon Post mentioned Antique Avenue in Hamilton, I knew just where I could get my next antiquing fix.

The story of this shop is an intriguing one. The owners Adam Hughes and Tom Watson purchased the entire inventory from one person - a man named Darryl who had amassed nine truckloads worth of collectables, purchased from yard sales, auctions and estate sales over the last 30 years. Hughes and Watson, who renovated old houses for a living, bought the whole collection for $100,000 and became first-time shopkeepers, setting up their store in an 8,000 sq ft space on Ottawa St. N. in Hamilton. So fascinating, right?

Now you can understand why we jumped in the car and made the trek out on a very snowy Saturday last weekend. Lucky for us, the store was packed to the brim! Aisle after aisle of vintage goods, beautifully displayed. (Excuse the poor iPhone photos)

There was a bottle and jar aisle,

And a toy aisle,

A housegoods aisle,

An electronics aisle, a hardware aisle,

And some furniture too. There weren't many furniture pieces but I think the limited floor space probably means they have other pieces stored offsite. Hmmm. I loved these oversized tomes containing newspaper articles. Wouldn't they look great displayed in a library, stacked on the hearth of a fireplace?

Looks like quite the store right? But wait... there was more. The back third of the store was cordoned off by a black curtain. And there were just as many shelves there filled with unpacked boxes. Seriously, I think there was the next five year's worth of inventory back there, just waiting to be uncovered and unearthed, catalogued and itemized.

Were it not for a cranky, hungry toddler clinging to me, I would have settled in for the rest of the afternoon poring through those boxes. There's nothing like the 'hunt', right? I ended up buying a few things and I'll show them to you in another post. With nine truckloads of stuff to sell, I'm pretty sure this store will have some new treasures each time I go back. Maybe I'll bump into you there.

Antique Avenue

329 Ottawa St. N.

Hamilton, ON

Antique Addition

This baby blue side table is:
A. A functional piece of furniture
B. A great place to rest a lamp, a book, or a hot cup of tea
C. The perfect ladder for a climbing toddler.


If you said "All of the above", you'd be correct. This is the side table we currently have in Chloe's room. When we are upstairs, we close the baby gate at the top of the stairs and leave Chloe free to explore the bedrooms and hallway. The side table unfortunately is not baby-proofed... it only took one time for me to find Chloe standing up on the second step, reaching for the bed, to realize that it needed to be replaced.

Luckily, after a day of apple picking, we decided to scoot over and catch the last two hours of the famous Christie Antique Fair. I'm so glad we did because we managed to find this little table and chair.


Its the perfect size; doesn't take up too much space and doesn't impede the door swing. I like the curvy top too and the ring-like details on the legs. I also love the colour of it... its been refinished in a nice medium tone stain (it looks a bit orange in some of these photos, but its more of a warm brown colour). But therein lies the problem - do I paint it or keep it as is?



It doesn't match anything else in the room, which is all white painted furniture, yellow walls, and a light maple dresser, and looks like this:


But I'm kinda liking the warm dark contrast. Its such a nice piece too, not cracked or worn, that I'm hesitant to paint it. But then again, I could do it in a nice French grey, that would work with the striped headboard...? What do you think - paint or not?

Whatever the finish, I definitely won't be keeping the chair there. The little one already has a mischievous look on her face and is eying the chair like its the next Mt. Everest to be tackled!

The Goods

So I did a bit of shopping on our vacation. I bought a mix of things, old and new, stuff for me and lots of stuff for the kid. I'm a cheap antique shopper and anything with a price tag over $20 makes me think long and hard. I realize some of the things are old and rare, but really, if I didn't buy it, it would just sit gathering dust until it disintegrates or its finally put out by the side of the road with a "Free. Take Me" sign overhead... right?

Good thing I found some stuff at a price I was willing to pay :)

1. Got these little matryoshka measuring cups at the Urban Outfitters in Kingston. I thought these would be the cutest addition to Chloe's play kitchen. She loves to stack things so these nesting cups are big hit.
2. I LOVE this wooden carry-all I got at Funk and Gruven. Its solid and weighty and has a nice worn look. I think I'll use this in the craft area and store it with paintbrushes or little jars of buttons or beads or crafty things.

3. Also got this art pad at Funk and Gruven. Its used to give things a faux bois or fake wood look. Considering that Martha Stewart just came out with a paint kit complete with faux bois tool, I'm guessing its going to be a trendy look soon. Not sure where I'll use it yet. Maybe make a faux picket fence on the walls of Chloe's play area in the new basement?
4. I'm not sure what it is but I'm fascinated by antique tools lately. I hadn't seen anything like this folding ruler before. I already have a few yard sticks so this is nice to add to the collection.
5. Love this old school photo from Alleycat Antiques. The vendor told me if I looked real hard I may find the same person 2 or 3 times in the same photo; the photographer would take multiple photos and splice them together to create a single "yard photo" (a yard in length, naturally). I've seen photos like this in large groupings and they really give a dramatic look.
6. Of course I had to buy some milk glass to add to the collection. Found these milk glass salt and pepper shakers at Alleycats.

7. Like I said, vintage tools are really doing it for me. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these clamps. I saw a photo in this month's House Beautiful of vintage skipping ropes piled in front of a large modern poster that might have influenced this purchase. The juxtaposition was really cool so maybe I display the clamps with or on something really clean and modern.

I also bought this old chalkboard at a little place on Stanley Street in Bloomfield. Cute! The plan is to paint Chloe's play area in the basement with whiteboard paint so this little chalkboard can be hung on top of the chalkboard wall and provide a nice pop of colour.

I also bought a few other things I don't have pictures of: large old sugar sacks I plan to make pillows for the play area out of just like these featured on The Marion House Book, and some tiny chairs found at FOC that will go with Chloe's red table. Oh - and I bought some other things to make the play kitchen but you'll have to wait for the next post to find out what those are!